Self-mounting electrical connection boxes

ABSTRACT

Electrical connection boxes having an alignment arm member extending from the box to align it on a building wall member, and a holding leg member extending from the arm to hold the box on the building wall member for permanent fastening.

i [76] Inventor:

UIIitEd States Patent 1 1 Callanan [54] SELF-MOUNTING ELECTRICALCONNECTION BOXES Joseph R. Callahan, 382 Homeland Drive, Whitman, Mass.[22] Filed: Nov. 12, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 88,587

[52] US. Cl .248/360, 248/205, 248/226 D [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6m 13/00 [58]Field of Search ..248/205 R, 214, 221, 360,

DlG.6;226/3.9, 3.92, 3.3, 3.4, 18

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Carlson et al ..248/DlG. 6

[111 3,724,795 1 51 Apr. 3, 1973 1,511,217 10/1924 Floerchy ..24s/214x2,689,101 9/1954 Dygert ..24s/221x Primary Examiner-Wil1iam H. SchultzAttorneyCurtis, Morris & Safford [57] ABSTRACT Electrical connectionboxes having an alignment arm member extending from the box to align iton a building wall member, and a holding leg member extending from thearm to hold the box on the building wall member for permanent fastening.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPM ma 3,724,795

SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG.

INVENTOR Jam 2. (ALLAN/M B rA ML ATTORNEYS PATENTEUAPR 3 I975 SHEEI 2[1F 2 INVENTOR .7050 ,e. (ALLA/VAN ATTORNEYS SELF-MOUNTING ELECTRICALCONNECTION BOXES This invention relates to electrical connection boxes,and more particularly to a sturdy, inexpensive unitary, self-aligningelectrical connection box that quickly and easily can be mounted onto astud or other member of a building under construction and accuratelyaligned and held on the member until permanently fastened thereto.

Electrical connection boxes ordinarily are mounted in new buildings, forexample in houses on wall studs over which a lath and plaster or adry-wall construction is secured to form the interior walls. The openface of the box, into which later is placed a receptacle or switch orother electrical device, must extend outwardly from the stud an amountabout equal to the wall thickness so that the exposed portion of the boxwill be flush with the wall. Also, the box must be aligned vertically soits top and bottom project an equal distance from the front face of thestud.

Hand mounting of electrical boxes is difficult and time consumingbecause at least one hand must be used to hold the box as it is secured,e.g., by nails, to the stud. The box often slips, or inadvertently ismoved by the workers hand, and is-misaligned. Ahouse might have as manyas .twenty or more electrical boxes for lights, switches, outlets andtelephone extensions, so that the time involved properly to hand mountthe boxes, and to re-mount misaligned ones, is considerable.

Numerous devices have been created to align or to hold and alignelectrical connection boxes as they are secured to studs. Many suchdevices have been patented, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,802,634,2,990,172 and 3,154,304. In general, however, the previous devices haveserious shortcomings, being of relatively complex construction andhaving a multiplicity of parts some of which are movable, and thus areboth expansive to make and very subject to wear and breakage.

It is an object of this invention to provide improved electricalconnection boxes. Another object of this invention is to provide anelectrical connection box that has mounting elements permanentlyattached to the box, which make it simple to place the box on a stud orbuilding member, and which accurately and positively align and hold thebox against the stud for permanent fastening. A further object of thisinvention is to provide an electrical connection box of the typedescribed that has a relatively simple design and unitary construction,without a multiplicity of parts, particularly moving parts. These andother objects of this invention will be in part discussed in, and inpart apparent from, the following more detailed disclosure.

The present invention can be understood more thoroughly by reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective and shows an embodiment of an electricalconnection box according to this invention mounted on a building member;

FIG. 2 is a section and shows the box of FIG. 1 with its mountingelements in relation to the box;

. FIG. 3 is a perspective and shows another type of electricalconnection box of the invention mounted and aligned on a stud;

FIG. 4 is a section and shows the box of FIG. 3 with its mountingelements in relation to the box;

FIG. 5 is a perspective and shows another type of electrical connectionbox of the invention mounted and aligned on a stud; and

.FIG. 6 is a section and shows the box of FIG. 5 with its mountingelements in relation to the box.

Broadly, the electrical connection boxes of this invention have areceiving section to accommodate various electrical devices, for exampleswitches and plug outlets, and mounting elements extending from thereceiving section to align the box on a building member and to hold thebox thereon until permanently fastened.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an embodiment of the invention wherein theelectrical connection box 10 has a receiving section or receptacle 12 ofa type often used for telephone connecting devices, and mountingelements 14,16 extending from a side wall 18 of the receptacle. Theelement 14 is an alignment arm that serves to position the box properlyagainst a building member 20, such as a stud. The plane of the alignmentarm is substantially parallel to the open face 22 of the receivingsection 12 so that the face of the box can be mounted in the plane of awall (not shown) later secured to the building member 20. The alignmentarm 14 is set back from the open face 22 of the receiving section 12 adistance X that is a predetermined amount substantially equal to thethickness of the wall to be secured to the building member. Thus thealignment arm 14, when placed against the building member 20, correctlyprojects the receiving section 12 outwardly from the member so that theface 22 will be flush with the prospective wall.

Extendingfrom the alignment arm 14 in a direction away from the openface 22 of the receiving section 12 is a leg member 16 mounting element.The leg member 16 is adapted to pass along and bear firmly against thebuilding member 20, and thereby to hold securely the properly alignedand spaced box 10 on the member. FIG. 2 shows that the leg member 16 isat slightly less than a right angle to the alignment arm 14 and tends toclose in toward the receptacle 12. The mounting members 14, 16 are madeof a resiliently flexible material, for example, a spring steel or asynthetic plastic having similar properties, so the leg member 16 can bespread apart from the receiving section 12 to receive the buildingmember 20 and, in that operative condition shown in FIG. 1, exerts aforce against the member 20 to hold the box 10 firmly thereon.

Mounted as shown in FIG. 1, the box can be permanently fastened to thebuilding member, for example by nails (not shown) driven through holes24 provided in the alignment arm 14. r

The box 10a illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 has a receiving section orreceptacle 12a typically used for switches and plug outlets. Themounting elements 14a,16a of the box are not integral with the receivingsection 12a, in contrast to the box shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but areseparately formed and permanently fastened to the side wall 184 of thereceiving section by suitable means, for example by rivets 26. Inaddition, the leg member 16a, has a first section 16a equivalent to theleg member 16 described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, and at the enda second section 16a". The sections 16a and 16a' are at a small angle toone another so that the second section 16a" is directed slightly awayfrom the receiving section 12a. That construction facilitates passingthe leg member 16a onto and along a building member 20a, e.g., bypreventing digging of the lead edge of the leg member into the wood of astud. Aligned and held in place, the box a can be permanently fastenedto the stud 204 by a nail 28.

The box 10b illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 has a receiving section orreceptacle 12b typical of a type often used for fuses, and amountingelements 14b, 16b formed of strips of stiffly resilient material such asspring steel, fastened by rivets 26b to the side wall 18b of thereceptacle. The. leg member 16b has two sections, 16b and 16b" thatcorrespondto the two sections of the leg member 16a described inconnection with FIGS. 3 and 4. Staples 30 around the alignment arms 14bpermanently fasten the box to the stud.

It is of course to be understood that numerous changes can be made inthe design and construction-of the boxes of this invention withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein before andas defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An electrical connection box adapted to receive electrical connectionmeans comprising side wall members defining a receiving section havingan open face and mounting means to mount said electrical connection boxto an upstanding building member, said mounting means including: analignment arm extending from a side wall of said connection box in aplane substantially parallel to said open face thereof and being setback from said open face a predetermined distance substantially equaltothe distance said open face is to project outwardly from said buildingmember, said alignment arm having at least one fastener receiving means;and a leg member of resiliently flexible material spaced from said sidewall and extending from said alignment arm in a direction opposite saidopen face of said receiving section and being disposed to angle inwardlytoward said side wall of said receiving section whereby when saidelectrical connection box is mounted on said building member saidbuilding member is disposed between said side wall and said leg 2. A boxaccording to claim 1 wherein saidmounting elements are integral withsaid receiving section.

3. A box according to claim 1 wherein said mounting elements are aseparate unit permanently secured to said receiving section.

4. A box according to claim 1 wherein said mounting elements are a thinelongated member shaped to form said alignment arm and said leg member.

5. A box according to claim 1 wherein said leg member has a firstsection extending from said alignment arm toward said receiving sectionand a second section spaced from said alignment arm extending away fromsaid receiving section.

6. A box according to claim 1 wherein said side wall members define asubstantially circular receiving section.

7. The combination of an electrical connection box adapted to receiveelectrical connection means and a building member having said electricalconnection box mounted thereon and fastened thereto, which comprises: abuilding member; an electrical connection box adapted to receiveelectrical connection means comprising side wall members defining areceiving section having an open face and mounting means to mount saidelectrical connection box to an upstanding building member, saidmounting means including an alignment arm extending from a side wall ofsaid connection box in a plane substantially parallel to said open facethereof and being set back from said open face a predetermined distancesubstantially equal to the distance said open face is to proJectoutwardly from said building member, a leg member of resilientlyflexible material spaced from said side wall and extending from saidalignment arm in a direction opposite said open face of said receivingsection and being disposed to angle inwardly toward said side wall ofsaid receiving section whereby when said electrical connection box ismounted on said building member said building member is disposed betweensaid side wall and said leg member and said leg member is displacedoutwardly to an orientation substantially at a right angle to saidalignment arm whereby said leg member exerts a force inwardly towardsaid side wall to securely gr'ip said building member between said legmember and said side wall and retain said connection box on saidbuilding member; said electrical connection box being mounted on saidbuilding member whereby said building member is disposed between saidside wall and said leg member and against said alignment arm; andfastening means securing said electrical connection box to said buildingmember. I

1. An electrical connection box adapted to receive electrical connectionmeans comprising side wall members defining a receiving section havingan open face and mounting means to mount said electrical connection boxto an upstanding building member, said mounting means including: analignment arm extending from a side wall of said connection box in aplane substantially parallel to said open face thereof and being setback from said open face a predetermined distance substantially equal tothe distance said open face is to project outwardly from said buildingmember, said alignment arm having at least one fastener receiving means;and a leg member of resiliently flexible material spaced from said sidewall and extending from said alignment arm in a direction opposite saidopen face of said receiving section and being disposed to angle inwardlytoward said side wall of said receiving section whereby when saidelectrical connection box is mounted on said building member saidbuilding member is disposed between said side wall and said leg memberand said leg member is displaced outwardly to an orientationsubstantially at a right angle to said alignment arm whereby said legmember exerts a force inwardly toward said side wall to securely gripsaid building member between said leg member and said side wall andretain said connection box on said building member.
 2. A box accordingto claim 1 wherein said mounting elements are integral with saidreceiving section.
 3. A box according to claim 1 wherein said mountingelements are a separate unit permanently secured to said receivingsection.
 4. A box according to claim 1 wherein said mounting elementsare a thin elongated member shaped to form said alignment arm and saidleg member.
 5. A box according to claim 1 wherein said leg member has afirst section extending from said alignment arm toward said receivingsection and a second section spaced from said alignment arm extendingaway from said receiving section.
 6. A box according to claim 1 whereinsaid side wall members define a substantially circular receivingsection.
 7. The combination of an electrical connection box adapted toreceive electrical connection means and a building member having saidelectrical connection box mounted thereon and fastened thereto, whichcomprises: a building member; an electrical connection box adapted toreceive electrical connection means comprising side wall membersdefining a receiving section having an open face and mounting means tomount said electrical connection box to an upstanding building member,said mounting means including an alignment arm extending from a sidewall of said connection box in a plane substantially parallel to saidopen face thereof and being set back from said open face a predetermineddistance substantially equal to the distance said open face is toproJect outwardly from said building member, a leg member of resilientlyflexible material spaced from said side wall and extending from saidalignment arm in a direction opposite said open face of said receivingsection and being disposed to angle inwardly toward said side wall ofsaid receiving section whereby when said electrical connection box ismounted on said building member said building member is disposed betweensaid side wall and said leg member and said leg member is displacedoutwardly to an orientation substantially at a righT angle to saidalignment arm whereby said leg member exerts a force inwardly towardsaid side wall to securely grip said building member between said legmember and said side wall and retain said connection box on saidbuilding member; said electrical connection box being mounted on saidbuilding member whereby said building member is disposed between saidside wall and said leg member and against said alignment arm; andfastening means securing said electrical connection box to said buildingmember.